Israel strikes several sites in Syria, claims Syrian military

Beirut, March 17: Israeli airstrikes hit several sites in southern Syria early on Sunday wounding a soldier, Syrian state media reported.
State news agency SANA, citing an unnamed military official, said air defences shot down some of the missiles, which came from the direction of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights at around 12:42 a.m. local time. The strikes led to “material losses” and the wounding of a soldier, the statement said.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said Israeli strikes also hit two military sites in the Qalamoun mountains northeast of Damascus, an area where the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has operations. One of the targets was a weapons shipment, the observatory said.
The observatory said the strikes represented the 24th time Israel has struck inside Syria since the beginning of 2024. They have killed 43 fighters with various groups – including Hezbollah and Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard – and nine civilians. There was no immediate statement from Israeli officials on the strikes. (AP)